WIT News
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WIT hosts annual gathering of Irish Fulbright scholars Posted: Mon, November 30, 2009 |
Waterford Institute of Technology has, for the first time, hosted the annual gathering of Irish past participants in the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Government’s flagship scheme for international educational exchange.
Dr John Nolan, Macular Pigment Research Group (MPRG) and Dr Jimmy O’Brien Moran, School of Humanities are current Waterford Institute of Technology academics who were Fulbright Scholars while retired languages lecturer Eileen Ryan-O’Riordan also returned to the Institute for the annual dinner as she too is a former Fulbright Scholar.
Prof Kieran R Byrne, Director, Waterford Institute of Technology said those who administer the Fulbright Program in the United States and around the world place particular importance on selecting candidates with leadership potential and this is reflected in the later achievements of those who attended the Waterford ‘reunion’ of Fulbright Scholars who participated since its introduction to this country in 1957.
“The Fulbright Program has been good to Ireland and, it is fair to say, Ireland has been good to the Fulbright Program with many of our brightest and best among those recognised and supported through the decades. The annual gathering of Fulbright grantees affords them an opportunity to reconnect with the enduring Fulbright spirit of educational philanthropy and social entrepreneurship. It also allows them recall their time lecturing, researching or studying in the United States as one of over 1,600 postgraduates, academics and professionals from this country who have had that opportunity courtesy of Fulbright.
“Indeed, the vision that Senator Fulbright had in first proposing these awards is similar to that which we now need in what are times of difficulty. Fulbright recognised the purpose and potential of education and the value of international exchanges of learning. This is perhaps unsurprising as he himself completed his MA at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Today, we must not lose sight of the value of knowledge and the importance of sharing that knowledge across borders.
“For our part, Waterford Institute of Technology is pleased to have been selected to host the annual dinner as this is a further clear signal that our people and facilities are the measure of all challenges.”
Administered in this country by the Public Affairs Office of the United States Embassy in Dublin, Fulbright grants are made for a variety of educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study and teaching in elementary and secondary schools.
Since the scheme’s inception almost 60 years ago, there have been more than 250,000 participants. The Presidentially-appointed J William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board is ultimately responsible for the final selection of all Fulbright grantees and the supervision of the Fulbright Program worldwide.
Originally proposed to the U.S. Congress in 1945 by Senator J William Fulbright, the Fulbright Program is principally funded by an annual appropriation made by the United States Congress to the Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions also contribute financially through cost-sharing and indirect support, such as salary supplements, tuition waivers and university housing.
• Further information about the Fulbright Program in Ireland is available at www.fulbright.ie.
